


Damage Control

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 12:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4019152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven's role in the group is mediator. And, for the next several hours, driver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damage Control

**Author's Note:**

> Post-Redemption, early/mid-twenties Steven
> 
> For maximum effect, play [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw5_nNHI8FU) at the same time

The nearly-full moon hung low in the clear nighttime sky as Steven maneuvered the twists and turns of the country road. The headlights of the van highlighted the knee-high grass that grew on either side of the road, dwarfed by the shadows of the trees that grew just beyond the grass. Steven took a sip his energy drink and stretched as much as he could in the driver's seat. He had been driving for hours and there was still four hours to go until they got back to Beach City.

Steven glanced in the rear view mirror. Peridot was still seated in the middle of the back row of seats, holding two mason jars filled with a clear liquid. In each, three gemstones floated, bouncing softly against the edges of the jar and each other.

"How are they doing?" Steven called back, his voice rusty from not having been used all day.

Peridot jumped at the sound. "Um, they're all better. Amethyst is fine. Ruby and Sapphire are nearly fine." Steven heard a clinking of fingers against glass. "Jasper and Lapis and Pearl are all still a little damaged, but they're improving. Your mother's tears are... effective."

"Good." Steven tried not to think about the mission, but images came to his mind uninvited. Images of them driving for hours to a location far from any known Warp Pad. Images of them infiltrating the previously-unknown cache of Gem technology. Of finding the munitions. Of Peridot-

A sound from the back interrupted him. Steven looked back. Peridot had set the jars between her legs and was leaning forward, crying softly in her hands. Tears were leaking from between her fingers. "Peridot?"

"Please, don't let them kill me."

Peridot looked up for a brief moment, and locked eyes with Steven through the rear view mirror. Her eyes were blurry with tears, but Steven could see the raw fear that also poured from them. Fear and regret and guilt and Steven had to look away. Steven focused back on the road, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Peridot went back to crying, her sobs filling the van.

"They're not going to kill you," Steven said after a few moments, trying to be as reassuring as possible.

Peridot let out a singular, hollow laugh, and wiped a tear from her eye. "Ha! Of course they are. You seriously think the others will be in a forgiving mood? Steven, do you know how painful it is to retreat into a cracked gem?"

"But it was an accident. No one thought the munitions would still be active after all this time.”

“That doesn't changed what happened. That doesn't change the fact that I- that I almost...”

Peridot trailed off. She was silent for a moment, the hum of the road filling the gap between them. "Besides," she said softly, "You all hate me anyway."

"I don't hate you," Steven said automatically. "You know that."

"Fine, you don't. But they others hate me. I don't think there's a large enough databank on this planet that would be able to store all the reasons why the rest of the Gems hate me.”

"I know." Steven had flashbacks to the years of arguments, the years of yelling at Pearl and Amethyst and Garnet while Peridot and, later, Lapis and Jasper sat between them awkwardly. "But they came around to you guys."

"Barely."

"And you've proven to be a valuable member of the team." Steven could hear the Gem tech he and Peridot had managed to retrieve rustling in the trunk of the van. 

"Sure."

Steven didn't know what else to say after that. He looked up again, at the mirror. Peridot was leaning horizontally against the back row of seats, cradling both mason jars. Her face was unreadable, but her hands were shaking, jostling the gems ever so slightly in the solution of his mother's tears. Her eyes were locked on them, watching them as they floated, as if weightless.

Steven turned back to the road. He reached for and finished off the energy drink, then pulled out another one from the case. He cracked it open and took a sip, the artificial sweeteners leaving a bad aftertaste in his mouth. He glanced at his phone.

Three and a half hours to Beach City. They'd get to the beach house just after sunrise, and Steven will have been awake for nearly a day. He needed sleep.

But he couldn't risk it. Amethyst would be coming back soon, then Ruby and Sapphire, by the looks of their gems. He couldn't do damage control if he was passed out.

A cloud passed across the moon, dimming its light. Steven accelerated as he hit a straigtaway, feeling the beat of the engine in the steering wheel. He put on music, some ambient electronic nonsense from his phone that suited the late-night drive well. The mission was still ongoing.

But the hard part was waiting for him back in Beach City.

**Author's Note:**

> Headcannon: If Redemption does occur, Peridot will have the hardest time being accepted by the Crystal Gems of the three Homeworld Gems. Steven, naturally, will argue for her.
> 
> Been driving late at night a lot lately. Go listen to the song I linked to in the notes up top.


End file.
